Page 47 of The Warrior
“Neither do I. My guess is that Magni has never learned how to express his emotions. Maybe he was ridiculed for crying as a child. Maybe he was always second because of his brother the future ruler. Maybe he is boiling over on the inside. Maybe throwing a fit is learned behavior, since his father did the same and got respect for it. Maybe he experienced people being afraid of him and felt a surge of power. Who knows, Laura?”
“Athena, please just tell me what I need to do.”
“That’s not my place.”
“But I’m not sure if I should stay here or go home.” I sat down on the bed.
“Then meditate until you get your answer,” she suggested and sounded like my sensei. It annoyed me that Motlanders thought everything could be fixed with meditation.
“I can’t sit still. I need to do something to help him,” I said and got up to pace the floor again.
“In that case you have your answer.”
“But what if I get home and he rejects me?”
“Laura.” Athena’s voice dropped. “You’re the warrior who didn’t think twice about going after a group of violent men to protect the innocent. If you can do that, you can face anything.”
It’s not the same thing, I thought, but was grateful that Athena was taking time in the middle of the night to talk to me.
“Thank you, and tell Finn to call me as soon as he knows anything.”
“I will, dear,” Athena promised before we ended the call.
Tiptoeing through the house, I woke Hans up in a hushed voice. “Listen, something happened at home, and I’ll have to return.”
“What,now?” Hans pushed up on his elbows and I gestured for him not to get up.
“You can go back to sleep. I’ll take the drone and send it back to you. If you get a lead on Devlin, call me.”
He frowned. “Just tell me the truth. Are you leaving because of what happened between us?”
I wanted to roll my eyes. But maybe I was being too hard on Hans. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t read my signals and that he had made a mistake. “No, I’m not leaving because of you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure; there’s a situation at home that needs my attention, but I’ll be back, I promise.”
CHAPTER 14
Friends
Magni
A breeze of cold air made me pull my covers higher. Cracking an eye open, I saw Boulder opening the window.
“What are you doing?” My voice was rusty from sleep. “You’re letting out the heat. Close the door and the window.”
Boulder sat down on the edge of the windowsill and looked at me. “I’m letting in some fresh air. It stinks like a brewery in here.” He was wearing a thick jacket and crossed his arms. “Wanna tell me what happened last night? I thought you’d stopped that shit months ago.”
Flashbacks from last night had me groaning and rubbing my face.
“Do you remember telling Laura not to come back?”
“Close the fucking door,” I mumbled and reached for my clothes. This time Boulder complied.
“I might have said some stupid stuff to her,” I admitted. “I was upset.”
“She thought you were getting yourself killed.”
